Official: Modric handed rest as Dalic benches him for Croatia-Gibraltar

Luka Modric is starting on the bench for Croatia in their World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar this evening, as confirmed this evening. 

Modric has been playing a lot at the start of this season, despite the age of 40, but his body has handled the workload well. Given just how hard the midfielder works on the training ground, and the measures taken to stay in shape, it’s not exactly surprising.

That being said, some rest here and there won’t do any harm. So far, he has started all six league games for Milan but was at least rested in the two Coppa Italia games (only 24 minutes against Bari). For Croatia, meanwhile, he had started three out of four games this fall up until tonight.

🇭🇷 Luka Modric is starting on the bench for Croatia against Gibraltar pic.twitter.com/K0cAB5WJz9

— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) October 12, 2025

With 13 points in five games, it’s clear that Croatia are in a rather comfortable position in their group and thus can afford to rest Modric. Especially when the replacement is called Mateo Kovacic, and the opponent is called Gibraltar (with all due respect). This is exactly what Zlatko Dalic has done.

Modric is expected to be back at Milanello on Tuesday to begin preparations for the Fiorentina game. That is scheduled for Sunday, though, so there is plenty of time to recover before then and put in a good shift underneath the San Siro lights.